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Never Restored: 1971 Volkswagen Westfalia

If you’re in the market for a truly special vintage Westy, look no further than here! This ’71 Volkswagen Type 2 Westfalia campervan is up for bids here on eBay in Oro-Medonte, Ontario, Canada and just look at this thing! Keep reading to see more! Volkswagen began making the famous Kombi vans as early as 1950. Through the years, the styles and official names may have changed, but the Westfalia and competitors like Dormobile, EZ Camper, ASI/Riviera, Holdsworth, Danbury Motorcaravans, and VW Sun-Dial remain very popular pieces.

We turn our attention back to the example at hand, and the cleanliness and detail shine past even the most verbose prose that we could write about it. The seller tells us that it is a one-owner unit that has never had its engine apart, even with 53,000 original miles. It was apparently bought new, taken on some spectacular family holidays around Canada, and then put away for safekeeping while being lovingly maintained throughout its 50-year life thus far. We’re also shown a collection of documentation and service manuals that are included with the vehicle.

We can see what looks like a front-end protector over the nose, aftermarket driving/fog lights, and stickers on the back from its many adventures. We see also the red light under the rear bumper, which is a European safety requirement, and European vehicle sticker “D” which suggests that it may have been purchased through the Tourist Delivery Program.

(For those unfamiliar, a customer would pick up their new van in Germany, drive it in Europe, then VW would ship it to the customer’s home. In fact, many Volkswagen Campers were purchased by military men and women in this manner, and some manufacturers continue to offer this service today)

I am astonished at the seemingly excellent overall condition of this Westy. I look at the pictures and feel as though this machine may have actually been kept in a sealed bubble all this time. The inside, the outside, it all looks pristine and I would proudly preserve this to the best of my ability while taking it on more adventures for many years to come.

Comments

  1. Avatar Alfa2600

    Nice
    I had a 72 same colour, same shape, it had the twin carbs which leaked at the shaft so I pulled the motor and installed a 2 litre fuel injected. Fairly easy swap including the computer.
    Went camping every weekend. Unfortunately the belt came off one year, tore off the fuel line for the gas heater and the poor thing caught fire. I was behind a weigh scale, ran over to ask if I could use their fire extinguisher only to be told it was for their use only. Idiots.

    Like 6
  2. Avatar TK

    Dad had a ’69 model, I still have the owner’s manual.

    Like 2
  3. Avatar brian

    What a beautiful vehicle…someone spent a lot of time and love to create such a masterpiece…good job….

    Like 6
  4. Avatar Mark

    My friends dad bought a new 71 Westfalia with the “automatic” transmission. No clutch. Shove the shifter down and row through the gears.

    Red with a white roof.

    Like 3
    • Avatar CDBrown

      Only beetles had the Automatic Stickshift. Vans and campers were manual-only through the 1972 model year, with a conventionally selected 3-speed automatic option beginning with the 1973 model year.

      Like 6
    • Avatar Hans Saykiewicz

      The no clutch version was VW‘s semi-auto option. You still had to shift gears. I drove several Beatles with that option. In a beatle you really don’t need a couch if you rev up immediately before shifting :)

      Like 0
    • Avatar Karl Bower

      Hi Mark The auto didn’t come out till late 72 and very few were built . The big year for the introduction of the auto in Buses was 73.

      Like 0
    • Avatar Ronald L Jordan

      Wrong. No such Type II.

      Like 0
  5. Avatar Francisco

    The “D” stands for Deutschland which means Germany in German.

    Like 4
  6. Avatar hatofpork

    @Francisco-Soooo-German for Germany, then? :)

    Like 0
    • Avatar Francisco

      Right. And German for a German is a Deutschlander..Go figure.

      Like 2
  7. Avatar Ted

    If you look at the Ebay pics it has a bunch of stuff from a VW dealer in Canada, and I looked it up and the location is actually still a VW dealer, so it probably was bought in Canada and wasn’t one of those tourist cars.

    Like 3
  8. Avatar local_sheriff

    Owned a ’71 Dormobile camper 25years back, though 99% rust free at the time it was still looking far worse than this Westy. The Westfalia version has a lot more user friendly layout IMO.
    This one is so clean you can eat off it, what kind of well-behaving family owned this…? Almost makes me wonder whether it was ever really used much for camping trips at all

    Like 2
  9. Avatar Duncan

    I live 10 minutes away.

    Like 2
  10. Avatar On and On Member

    Bid up to $32k already. Lots of dough for a right lane only camper…….but for a local weekend unit? Or flea market/car show tailgater. Perfect.

    Like 4
  11. Avatar steve

    I love VW campers. I have over 400k on my 84 westfalia. This thing is beautiful and has all the right stuff. That gas heater was the option to have. You could run it on the timer while parked. Great for those crisp fall mornings in the New England mountain.Ah, he memories. Yes, it is a backroad only vehicle but they drive sweetly like that..But..it is too perfect. The campers just beg to be used and this one just shouldn’t be on the road…I almost hate the thing becsuse I’d want it and want to travel in it and could not bring myself to do that. Good thing it is bid so high

    Like 3
  12. Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

    When I lived in Germany courtesy of the US Army, We had special license plates issued by the Army after the car passed the TUV inspection. Our cars had the oval USA country sticker.

    There were many “Overseas Delivery” cars running around our area [Heidelberg], these always had OVAL white license plates with black lettering. Each of these had small round metal plates affixed by the local authority where the car originated, showing the tax had been paid. Each of these cars displayed the small oval sticker for country it was destined for, and the vast majority were marked USA

    As I recall, the new owner had a pre-arranged amount of time to enjoy his/her car before taking it to the Port of Bremerhaven to have it shipped stateside. Most people had a 90 day plan, but it could be up to a year I believe.

    Like 3
  13. Avatar Squishy

    I hope that whoever buys this gem can somehow can remove the decals from the stationary rooftop and return them to the family and then start the decal collection anew.

    Like 0
  14. Avatar Woody

    Many VW’s passed through the family but never a type 2 hats-off to the owners this is a beautiful VW.

    Like 2
  15. Avatar Charles Sawka

    I would be afraid to touch it ! This is way too clean to actually use !

    Like 1

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